The Evolution of New Year's Resolutions

Summary

Read 'The Evolution of New Year's Resolutions' at 'Time to Start Up,' the small business blog by BizFilings.

Do you make New Year’s resolutions? Be it on a personal or professional level, it’s an excellent opportunity to take stock of where you are in life vs. where you want to be.

But a New Year’s resolution, without a well-defined plan of action to back it up, is like owning a brand-new car without a key. It may look nice, but it’s not going anywhere.

The Evolution of the Resolution
What I’m really talking about here is creating clearly defined goals. If we take our resolution, which is typically a big idea without any specifics, and fill in the blanks on HOW we’re going to accomplish it, we give ourselves a road map to follow — which ultimately leads to completing the goal.

Before you fill in the details of your road map, ask yourself the following question:

What do you love to do the most?

The reasoning behind this is simple, yet powerful. If my goal is to double my profits in the coming year, I have a much better chance of accomplishing my goal if I’m engaged in activities that I enjoy. Of course, these activities need to propel me toward my ultimate goal, but as I define what I need to do in order to accomplish my goal, choosing things I’m excited about will keep me in the game.

A Hypothetical Example
Let’s say I enjoy analyzing metrics, developing products and working face-to-face with my customers. But I do not like working in online social media, blogs or developing my company’s marketing strategies.

I’m better off focusing on what I love to do and delegating the work I don’t like (albeit absolutely necessary to my success) to someone who is proficient at it and enjoys it. Trying to “save money" and do it myself could deter me from reaching my double-profit goal — causing me to lose money.

Why? Since I don’t like social media or marketing (hypothetically), the work I accomplish won’t be the best it can be. How could it, if I’m not excited about it? There’s no way we can do a consistently great job working on something we dislike. Remaining engaged is near impossible, and eventually most people simply stop doing the task.

Plus, being the lone guy or gal — trying to do it all ourselves — is a surefire way to introduce frustration and failure into our days. We can not do it alone. Building a team we can depend on is a must for long-term success.

Discovering What You Love
Whether it’s choosing which type of business to start, what type of products to sell, or which projects to work on — the most important factor is determining what’s most enjoyable to you.

How to determine what’s most enjoyable to you …

First, write down what you love to do more than anything else in life. This does not have to be business oriented. If more than one thing comes to mind, write them all down. See if there’s an overall connection. Ultimately, you’ll have to pick only one thing — and only one thing — at least for now.

This may prove difficult, but once you have only one choice you’ll have a lazer-like focus to help propel you forward (as opposed to being in conflict with yourself regarding what to work on).

Next, make a list of all the things you can do with your small business that’s directly associated with what you love to do the most. Even if it doesn’t seem realistic right now, write it down anyway.

By the time you’re done, you should have at least thirty different ideas/ways to bring what you love into your business. This exercise may uncover some pretty unique opportunities on how to reach your goal. In some cases, it may transform your goal, or your entire business into something you’re much more excited about.